1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of preparing floral arrangements, and in particular to preparing individual flowers for such floral arrangements by inserting on the stem of a flower a stem pick. The invention also relates to the field of cutting flower stems, and more particularly to cutting flower stems in an airless environment. Finally, the invention relates to methods and apparatuses combining these concepts in various ways.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Floral stem picks have been in use for many years for the purposes of strengthening and supporting the stems of individual botanical items, such as flowers, so that they can be easily handled and placed in position, for example in floral foam, without crushing the stems of the flowers. Such prior art stem picks may be made of steel and may have a number of fingers which wrap around and grasp the stem of the flower. In this manner, the stem pick acts as a rigid prolongation of the flower stem. Prior to application of the stem pick to the flower stem, it is usually necessary to cut the stem of the flower to a length such that the finished combination of flower, flower stem and stem pick is of the proper length for the floral arrangement. In the past, the cutting of the flower stem to an appropriate length has been done manually or with an automatic cutter as a separate step in the preparation of the flower prior to attachment of the stem pick.
Processing flowers by cutting underwater is becoming popular by wholesalers and florists. Many wholesalers are cutting all of their flower underwater, particularly roses, imports, and more expensive flowers. The benefit in cutting flower stems underwater is that it prevents the formation of an air gap or air bubbles in the vascular tissue of the plant, thereby interrupting the transpiration stream of water within the xylem. This procedure also avoids the skinning effect, i.e., it prevents sealing of the tubules of the stem with sap that oozes from the end of the flower stem after the stem is cut. The water thus, in addition to displacing air from the raw cut flower stem, prevents or retards skinning over the tubules which occurs in the natural healing process for the damaged (cut) plant.
In spite of the benefits of underwater cutting, many wholesalers and florists, especially during the holiday seasons, find that the time constraints and the volume of flowers necessary to process makes it impractical to cut all of the flowers under water. In such a case, the lesser quality flowers are cut without submergence in water. Additionally, a water source may not be handy or the extra time taken to manipulate the flower stems to both cut the stem underwater and, in a subsequent step, attach a stem pick, simply requires too much time and is not cost effective.
Pick stemming machines have been developed and manufactured in both a table top model and a portable model in which a stack of stem picks is inserted in the machine, and by moving a handle, an operator can cause the stem pick to attach to the flower stem, and the assembled flower and stem pick arrangement is then manually removed from the machine. Such machines have been made by B & K Tool, Die and Stamping Co., Inc. located in Ridgewood, N.Y. While such machines are effective to attach a stem pick to a flower stem, the problems of interrupting the transpiration stream in the flower stem and skinning over of the tubules are not solved, and the life of the floral arrangement containing flowers with picks applied by the machines of the prior art is foreshortened.